For nearly two centuries, Mormons—officially known as the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—have transitioned from a small rural American movement to an international community with over 17 million followers. Among their unique aspects is the creation of the largest genealogical archive in the world. This raises an inevitable question: what drives a church to spend decades and enormous resources collecting data on millions of people, both living and deceased? To answer this, one must delve into the origins of the movement and understand why this documentary impulse is embedded in its history.
What Are Mormons and What Do They Believe?
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was founded in 1830 in the United States and has its worldwide headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah. They are popularly known as Mormons due to the Book of Mormon, although the church prefers its official name. They describe their mission as the restoration of the original Church of Jesus Christ, believing that after the death of the first apostles, a widespread apostasy took place, and that God restored the true Church through a new prophet in the 19th century, Joseph Smith.
Mormon faith mixes recognizable elements of Christianity with unique doctrines:
- They believe in God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost as three distinct beings, not a singular Trinity.
- Family plays a central role; marriages and parental bonds can be “sealed” in their temples to continue beyond death.
- While they accept the Bible, they also have additional sacred texts: the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price.
- They follow a health code known as the “Word of Wisdom”, prohibiting alcohol, tobacco, coffee, and tea.
- They believe in continuing revelation: the president of the Church is considered a prophet who can receive new divine instructions for the present time.
In summary, mormonism presents itself as an “update” to primitive Christianity, maintaining the figure of Jesus Christ as Savior but introducing new scriptures, rituals, and a unique theology setting it apart from traditional Catholicism and Protestantism. Furthermore, as noted by theologian Gerson Leite de Moraes, it is a “composite” religion, blending elements from Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and ancient pagan traditions, continually evolving over time.
Joseph Smith: The Founder
The founder of the movement, Joseph Smith (1805–1844), was born into a rural family in the northeastern United States amid a time of religious fervor. According to various historical sources and the church’s own testimony, at the age of 14, he had the “First Vision,” where God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him, declaring that no existing church was fully true. Later, in 1823, an angel named Moroni revealed the existence of gold plates buried near his home, containing the religious history of ancient inhabitants of the Americas. Smith claimed to have translated these plates with the help of “seer stones,” publishing the result in 1830: the Book of Mormon.
Smith’s figure divides analysts. For the Church, he was a modern prophet, while much of historiography frames him within a context of spiritual experimentation very characteristic of 19th-century America, filled with visionaries and new religious movements. Indeed, studies like Inventing Mormonism by H. Michael Marquardt and Wesley P. Walters explore the tensions between Smith’s religious narrative and available documentary sources, focusing on the changing versions of his visions and the social and political context that gave rise to them.
Genealogy: A Central Doctrine
Genealogy is not just a pastime for Mormons; it is a central doctrine. The Church teaches that essential ordinances for salvation—such as baptism and eternal marriage—can also be performed on behalf of deceased individuals. To facilitate this, living members go to temples to perform these rites vicariously, allowing their ancestors to accept or reject them in the “spirit world.”
To know who these ancestors are, the Church undertook a monumental program to gather records from around the globe to identify deceased individuals who could benefit from these ordinances. Since the late 19th century, the Church has microfilmed, digitized, and archived civil records, parish archives, census records, judicial documents, and military and migration records. The FamilySearch platform, managed by the Church, is now the world’s largest free genealogy archive. However, this project has also sparked external tensions. In 2010, after criticism from Jewish organizations, the Church modified its policy to prevent Holocaust victims from being included in vicarious baptisms without authorization.
The Salt Lake Temple
The Salt Lake Temple—whose construction spanned four decades—is the architectural piece that best encapsulates the historical trajectory of the Mormons since their exodus to Utah in 1847. Brigham Young chose its location shortly after arriving in the valley, determined to establish a community capable of practicing their religion away from the conflicts that had marked their journey through the Midwest. In a desert environment with limited resources, pioneers painstakingly extracted and transported granite blocks for years, erecting a monumental building that soon became the visual reference of the city and the most recognizable symbol of the movement.
Today, while only faithful can enter, the temple operates as a global brand: an architectural piece that summarizes history, mysticism, and organizational capacity. For analysts like Gerson Leite de Moraes, mormonism is a “typically American product” that emerged during a period of intense religious fervor, and the temple indeed crystallizes that combination.
Everyday Life of Mormons
The daily life of an average Mormon combines religious devotion, moral discipline, and a strong sense of community.
The Health Code: No Wine or Coffee
In daily life, the body is almost a sacrament. Mormons follow a health code known as the “Word of Wisdom”, a revelation attributed to Joseph Smith in 1833 that counsels against the consumption of “wine, strong drinks, tobacco, and hot drinks.” Based on this formula, the official interpretation has defined a very specific list of prohibitions. This moderation, along with the absence of legal drugs and an emphasis on family stability, has fostered the stereotype of a predictable and disciplined Mormon, the exact kind of profile that piqued the interest of government agencies and large corporations.
The Ideal Mormon from a Washington Perspective
This disciplined profile caught the attention of the state. Since the 1970s, the CIA, FBI, and Department of Homeland Security have identified the Mormon community as an attractive recruitment niche: youth accustomed to following hierarchies, trained in abstaining from alcohol and drugs, leading discreet personal lives, and notably possessing international experience and language skills gained during their missionary work. The average Mormon fits the ideal profile for jobs where loyalty and discretion are paramount.
Critical studies published in the 1970s and 1980s regarding Mormon economic influence—such as The Mormon Corporate Empire—indicated that faculty at BYU noted “we have never had a problem locating anyone who has applied to the CIA.” The same university is now a talent pool for top companies like Marriott, American Express, and Deloitte.
The uncomfortable reverse of this visibility has been the perception—and allegations—of a “Mormon mafia” in certain federal environments: in the late 1980s, Latino agents within the FBI accused the institution of systematically favoring white and Mormon candidates in internal promotions.
Polygamy: Shadows of an Unforgotten Past
Mormon polygamy was shrouded in mystery and contradictions. Although the Church claims that Joseph Smith received divine revelation justifying plural marriage, some historians noted early signs when he was already involved with Fanny Alger, a young woman in his circle in Ohio. Smith publicly withheld the practice for years, aware that monogamy was the only legal form of marriage and that public opinion would condemn him. When he finally introduced it as a religious mandate in 1843, he had already accumulated a list of wives that historiography places at around forty.
Behind the theology, many scholars see a post hoc attempt to justify conduct that would have been unacceptable in any other social or religious context in the country. The practice generated significant backlash in the United States and ultimately led to clashes with the federal government. In 1890, pressured by law and the need to normalize its political situation, the Church officially abandoned polygamy. Since then, it treats that chapter as a closed historical deviation, while critics view it as an early example of how religious power can shape theology to justify personal decisions.
Diversity and LGBTQ+ Issues within the Church
The Church’s position on homosexuality hinges on a central distinction: feelings are not sinful; conduct is. They explain that experiencing attraction to the same sex does not disqualify anyone nor alter their spiritual worth, but acting on that attraction contradicts the commandments that they affirm God has established. This viewpoint aligns with their overarching doctrine: the Plan of Salvation, teaching that everyone faces different inclinations or weaknesses, and the challenge is to control behavior rather than suppress feelings.
While this doctrinal framework works on paper, the reality within congregations often proves more complex. One frequently cited case is that of Savannah, a 12-year-old girl from Utah, whose public testimony about her homosexuality was interrupted during a sacramental meeting. For many members and observers, this incident highlighted the clash between the lived experiences of many LGBTQ+ Mormon youth and an institutional structure that still perceives sexual diversity as a moral test rather than a legitimate expression of human identity. The result is an emotionally challenging landscape: fractured families, adolescents drifting away from the Church, and a community grappling with increasingly visible and difficult-to-manage conflicts.
The Sacred Books of Mormons
The doctrinal core of Mormonism is built around an extensive set of scriptures. Central to this is the Book of Mormon, which narrates the arrival of groups from Jerusalem in about 600 BC, the creation of entire civilizations, and the visit of the risen Christ to the continent. For believers, it is a revelation on par with the Bible and takes precedence in case of doctrinal conflict.
In addition to this work, the Bible—preferably in the King James Version—the Doctrine and Covenants, a collection of revelations attributed to Joseph Smith and later prophets, and The Pearl of Great Price, a collection of texts including the controversial Book of Abraham, whose historical authenticity has been questioned by experts, all contribute to their cosmological framework. This collection combines biblical language, epic narratives, and a sacred setting situated in America.
The Mormon Clergy
Unlike most historical Christian churches, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not have a professional clergy. Any “worthy” male can receive the Aaronic Priesthood from the age of 12 and the Melchizedek Priesthood in adulthood. A complex hierarchy organizes this system: The First Presidency, The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, The Seventy, and local leaders of each ward and stake all contribute to the global structure.
Does the Vatican Recognize the Mormon Church?
The Vatican does not recognize The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a Christian church in the traditional theological sense. For the Catholic Church, it is considered more a new religious movement that incorporates Christian elements but whose beliefs about the Trinity, the nature of God, and human exaltation are seen as incompatible with historic Christianity.
Although both engage in institutional dialogue and collaborate on humanitarian initiatives,:
In brief, they coexist and collaborate on specific projects, but the Vatican does not recognize them as a Christian church in the traditional doctrinal sense.